1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of sulfophosphoric acid ester salts as plaque-inhibiting agents in oral and dental care preparations having an improved anti-plaque effect.
2. Statement of Related Art
Oral and dental care preparations are products which are used to clean and care for the teeth, the oral cavity and the throat. In addition to eliminating halitosis and tooth coatings, their function is to prevent diseases of the teeth and gums, particularly caries and parodontosis. A prerequisite in this regard generally recognized among experts is protection of the dental enamel against demineralization and inhibition of plaque formation.
It is known that water-soluble organic phosphates are effective to a certain extent in reducing the solubility of apatite and the crystal growth of hydroxyl apatite. However, the compounds are not surface-active. Surface-active compounds of the type used to improve the cleaning effect of oral and dental care preparations, for example sodium lauryl sulfate, do not have a favorable effect in reducing the demineralization of dental enamel or in inhibiting plaque formation.
Surface-active sulfophosphoric acid alkenyl ester salts are known as surfactants having good performance properties, for example high foam stability in hard water, high alkali stability and good wetting power, cf. for example DE-OS 38 02 815. These products are prepared by sulfonation of phosphoric acid mono- and/or diesters of unsaturated fatty alcohols and neutralization with alkali metal hydroxide, ammonia or alkanolamines. German patent application P 38 12 718.0 also describes saturated sulfophosphoric acid alkyl ester salts which may be obtained by sulfonation of phosphoric acid mono- and/or diesters of saturated fatty alcohols with sulfur trioxide and neutralization of the sulfonates with alkali metal hydroxide, ammonia or alkanolamines. Adducts of 1 to 30 mol ethylene oxide with unsaturated or saturated fatty alcohols can also be similarly converted into phosphoric acid mono- and/or diesters and sulfonated.